No such levee district shall be formed unless notice of an intention to apply therefor be first given by publication in some newspaper published in each county composing said proposed levee district, published once at least fifteen days before the commencement of the meeting of the county commission to which said application shall be made, and provided that the commission shall mail, by certified mail, a copy of the notice of the intention to form a district to the names listed on the county assessor’s records of the owners of land or other individual or corporate franchise property in the district, including all public entities owning land within the district.